Energy/Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (EAMR/HAMR) systems can potentially increase the areal density of information recorded magnetically several times, avoiding data erasure caused by thermal fluctuations, by using high-coercivity media materials. Many or all modern prototype HAMR recording head designs employ a laser diode for heating the media. As the media temperature approaches the Curie point, even small variations of laser power can have a major effect on the quality of data recording. In particular, as the laser diode temperature rises, either by laser self-heating or at higher ambient temperatures, the lasing threshold increases and the laser power (and hence the media temperature during recording) at any given current level decreases. On the other hand, the magnetic properties of the media near the Curie point are very sensitive to the temperature, thereby amplifying the effect of the laser power (and hence media temperature) variations on HAMR write performance. As such, some laser power variations, as small as 5% for example, may result in unacceptable fluctuations. Therefore, it would be beneficial if the laser temperature could be continuously monitored and the laser current adjusted accordingly in order to keep a HAMR head near the peak of its writing capability.